Veronica's Fallacy

31.

-HER-

"I hope I'm not interrupting something important," Grim spoke, looking between Matt and me with something dark in his eyes.

I had been craving to hear from him for the past couple of days, and here he was— standing in front of me. This excited my wolf. She was happy to see him, but at the same time, the rational (whatever was left of it) side of me was greatly stunned to see him here. It was as if he appeared out of thin air when we were about to talk about him.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him, glancing briefly at Matt, who was paler than paper. His reaction to Grim further puzzled me. I wondered if he knew Grim, if they knew each other in the first place. Judging by the expression on Grim's face, I decided that they weren't completely oblivious to each other's existence before this moment.

"I was here for work, and I saw you with..." He trailed off, looking back at Matt.

"This is Matt. A colleague of mine," I did my best to introduce the two politely but Grim didn't seem to be interested in him whatsoever. Instead, he grabbed my arm and tugged me up to my feet.

"Come with me," He said. It wasn't a request but a command. I glanced back at Matt, and he was still sitting there, blanched and speechless. "Now," Grim added. I wanted to snap at him for being adamant but decided to go with him instead.

"Sorry for this. I'll see you again soon," I told Matt, and he nodded. It looked like he wanted to say something to me for a moment, but he shut his mouth as soon as he glanced past me at Grim. He seemed to turn a shade paler every time he looked past me.

"See you," Was all he could put out before I was being taken away from there.

"Grim," I called after him as he continued leading me towards the restaurant's exit. He ignored me. Instead, he seemed to walk faster. I tried to tug my hand away, but it didn't work. Instead, his hold tightened on me. He stopped right before his car and opened the door for me.

"Get in," He told me sharply. I grunted and obeyed as he closed the door behind me and rounded the car to get into the driver's seat. I crossed my arms over my chest and sat silently as he started the engine and drove away.

"What was that?" I asked after a while.

"Just getting you out before anything bad could happen," He told me, his voice sounding more relaxed than before, but I pissed at him as much as I was secretly glad to see him.

"How did you know something bad would happen?" I inquired. All he did was shrug, and it added to my annoyance.

"You know him, don't you?" I decided to ask. "You two have met before,"

"You think so?" He asked, a hint of a smile in his voice, annoying me even more.

"I saw it on your face," I gritted. "You know him. How do you know him?" I demanded. He drove silently for a while.

"First, can you tell me what were you doing there with him?" He asked me, sounding more serious this time.

"We were catching up about our work. I told you he's a colleague of mine," I replied. "And what were you doing here?"

"I was there for work purposes... to keep an eye on someone," Grim said.

"Keep an eye on who?" I pressed.

"Mathew Leekeros," I stilled when Grim said Matt's name. I had been right. He knew him. They knew each other. Something was going on behind my back, and it annoyed me even more. I wondered how much Matt knew about Grim and if he could tell something was happening between us. I'd be fucked if he guessed so.

"Tell me everything," I growled, and he chuckled, a hint of sass in his voice.

"Not so easily," He said, "You have to promise me something first,"

"What is it? What else could you want from me?" I snapped at him, my annoyance getting the best of me. His head snapped towards me, and he scanned me head to toe for a moment, an insatiable hunger in his eyes. That was enough to set me straight for the moment while I tried to ignore the light throbbing between my legs.

"I want a lot of things from you, Veronica," He spoke darkly, resting his free hand heavily on my thigh. I was glad and disappointed that I wore pants instead of skirts tonight. Though it didn't seem to bother him because he stroked my thigh with the same intensity that was enough to make my pussy cry for his attention. Darn him! "But now, I'll take a promise from you," He demanded, "Promise me, Veronica, that you'll never talk to that man again. Ever,"

"That's impossible," I told him, "He's my colleague and a good friend,"

"A good friend, really?" He echoed my words, something dangerous strung in his chuckle, "Such good friend you have who'll sell you in the blink of an eye just to move up in that bloody Council,"

I had nothing to say to that because, deep down, I knew he was right. Awfully right, but I wouldn't admit it out loud to him. My pride was too important and... I didn't trust him. Not to that extent. Like I trusted him to be between my legs but not enough to talk about these things, this realisation in itself was disturbing to me. I swatted his hand away from my thigh and clenched my legs.

"You didn't tell me how you know him and why you were keeping an eye on him," I demanded.

"Because you didn't make the promise yet, Veronica," He reminded, his voice matching his name. "I want to hear it from you. Tell me, you'll keep away from him. Or else, I'll keep him away from you,"

A shudder ran down my spine. His words were again a reminder of his Underlordship and all he could do because of his title. Matt had warned me to be extremely careful around his kind, yet... here I was starting to doubt if I could even trust him. This was making me feel more lost and uncomfortable.

However, I had to trust someone in this situation to some extent. I had no other choice. Now, I had to choose between the man I had known for almost a decade or the man who was my mate. The answer should've been clear to me, but it wasn't.

"Veronica," Grim began, sounding more patient, "I don't know how much you know about Matt, but he's not to be trusted," He said as if reading my mind.

"And why should I trust you?" I asked back. He gave me a sceptical look.

"Because it's obvious," He stated. "I'm your mate,"

"And it doesn't mean shit," I dismissed. He stopped the car abruptly until I noticed we were in the middle of an uphill drive. He was taking me back to his place.

"Alright, let's talk about that first because last time you got offended when I called you my mate. What's the issue with it?" He demanded, turning to me. In the darkness of the car, his eyes glowed so beautifully that I wanted to stare into them forever. I looked away.

"Am I supposed to trust you because we are biologically compatible?" I asked, and he made a noise of disbelief.

"What are you talking about?" He asked, half stunned, "What makes you think this is just about biological compatibility? There's more to that, Veronica. Do you not know how mates work?"

"I know well enough," I hissed.

"You seem to have gotten it all wrong then," He said, putting a finger under my chin and making me turn towards him.

"I know what I'm talking about," I stated firmly, but there was disbelief in his glowing eyes. "This physical attraction between us is going to fade away the moment we fuck,"

He cocked an eyebrow at me and started his car's engine.

"You think so? Let's find out then," He challenged, stepping on the accelerator and driving uphill with the speed of a rocket.

~

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